10 things in tech you need to know today | Tips & Tricks

SoftBank shares have fallen dramatically, slashing its value by $20 billion. Bloomberg ascribes the dive to a rocky few weeks for tech companies and the outcry at Saudi Arabia – SoftBank’s biggest outside investor – following the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Chinese regional authorities laid out the kind of speech suppression that Google will likely have to facilitate for the country’s persecuted Muslim ethnic minority to launch its new product in China. Regional authorities in China passed new laws on how to crack down on its Uighur ethnic minority, which includes heavy surveillance, policing, and censorship from tech companies.

Tech billionaires Marc Benioff and Jack Dorsey are clashing over a key law that could seriously impact the San Francisco homelessness crisis. Proposition C would tax the largest businesses in the city to fund homelessness services, and it could bring in $250 million to $300 million in revenue annually.

Two US senators encouraged the Indian Prime Minister to adopt a more lenient stance towards data localization. Reuters obtained a letter in which Senators John Cornyn and Mark Warner encouraged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to adopt a “light touch” so data can easily cross national borders.

An ex-Googler who was part of a Noble Peace Prize-nominated project wants to reinvent the photography market. Patrick Ip, an ex-Googler who was involved in a Nobel Peace Prize nominated project, has a new startup called Catalog.

Reddit’s former product chief said he made the world “a worse place” in his pursuit of growth at all costs. Former Reddit head of product Dan McComas told New York magazine that he believes a relentless pursuit of growth led to user safety and wellbeing being sacrificed.

An intelligence group has found that Islamic extremists are using YouTube less. New analysis from the Site Intelligence Group indicates that organisations like Islamic State and al-Qaeda are using YouTube much less to spread propaganda.

The latest spammy viral Facebook post warns users about account “cloning,” but it’s nothing to worry about. A chain-mail-esque post has been spreading in recent weeks, warning of the purported dangers of cloning and asking people who read it to copy and paste it into their own posts, so other users can be warned.

A British startup will let people buy shares in pilot TV series and film. Bombay Sour describes its platform as a “crowdfunded Netflix,” and has brought the producer of “The King’s Speech” onto its management team.

Elon Musk says it’s time to create a “mecha” or giant fighting anime robot. Elon Musk tweeted about his love for a 2016 anime film and followed it up by saying it was time to create a “mecha,” or giant fighting anime robot in the wee hours of Sunday morning.

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